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exclusive: city of vancouver enters new territory, buying new $38.5-million apartment building
column: the recent purchase of a brand new apartment building represents a new approach for the municipal government
jul 17 2024
4 minute read
apartment block in east vancouver at 188 east woodstock ave. which was recently purchased by the city of vancouver.
nick procaylo
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10105336a
the city of vancouver has quietly stepped into a new role recently, buying a brand new residential building with plans to operate it as a market-rate landlord.
property records show the city of vancouver spent $38.5 million to buy a six-storey building at the corner of main street and east 41st avenue, with 46 market rental homes and a private liquor store on the ground floor. the building is now in the final stages of construction, with completion expected soon.
no information about this acquisition has previously been publicly released. in response to questions from postmedia, the city confirmed that this marks the first and so far only time it has purchased a newly constructed market rental residential building.
“there are currently no tenants in the building as final construction is being completed,” the city said in an emailed statement. “once this work is complete, tenants will be selected by a property management company.”
it will also be the city’s only liquor store tenant, the city said.
apartment building in east vancouver at 188 east woodstock avenue.
nick procaylo
/
10105336a
city council approved the acquisition before the purchase was made, a city representative confirmed. council’s decisions about buying and selling real estate are typically made behind closed doors.
vancouver’s municipal government is one of the largest landowners in the city, with a multi-billion-dollar portfolio including office, retail, and industrial properties that can be leased by private-sector businesses or anyone else. the city also owns some existing market rental buildings, and a significant portfolio of non-market housing — the city website says it owns 230 sites with 13,000 units of non-market housing created in partnership with the provincial and federal governments and the non-profit housing sector.
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but the acquisition of the soon-to-be-completed main street apartment building, which has an address at 188 woodstock ave., marks something new for the city.
“the purchase of 188 east woodstock ave. represents a new approach for the city, leveraging our resources to directly address the housing needs of our residents,” vancouver mayor ken sim said in an emailed statement wednesday. “in addition to supporting middle-income housing, this market rental property will make money for the city through the property endowment fund, offsetting demands on property taxes going forward.”
“as we continue to transition and streamline housing responsibilities under the newly created vancouver housing development office, we are committed to unlocking new opportunities to deliver on our promise of attainable and accessible housing for all who want to call vancouver home,” sim said.
no one from the city was available for an interview to discuss the strategy behind this new acquisition. the city answered some questions by email, but did not respond by deadline to a question about whether it intends to acquire other similar properties in the future.
the woodstock property was assessed last year by b.c. assessment at $30.9 million, while it was still under construction.
the development was approved by a previous city council back in 2018 . not a particularly controversial or high-profile project at the time, it was one of several apartment buildings developed through policies intended to encourage rental residential construction , after many years of the city producing mostly condos.
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property records show that the sellers were jeffrey and jordan kohn of the calgary-headquartered company mdc realty advisors.
the rezoning application was initially brought to city hall by local firm mallen gowing berzins architecture on behalf of vancouver developer rendition developments, and it was approved unanimously by the city’s former vision-majority council in 2018 .
corporate records show how that the property was previously owned by a corporation with the directors listed as rendition president brian roche as well as the three principals of the architecture firm: peter mallen, christopher gowing and edwin berzins. over the course of 2022 and 2023, jordan kohn and then jeffrey kohn became directors, and roche, mallen, gowing and berzins were eventually removed.
the two kohns became the sole directors in june 2023.
five months later, in november 2023, the kohns sold the property to the city.
asked whether this new approach was in response to direction from council, the city pointed to a motion introduced by sim last year, which directed city staff to explore opportunities to “unlock the delivery of new middle-income housing in the city on city-owned land,” and identify “potential sites/land assets.”
council approved sim’s motion unanimously on nov. 15.
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b.c. assessment records show that the sale agreement for the woodstock ave property was reached nov. 24.
the kohns’ company, mdc realty advisors , owns a large portfolio of residential, commercial and industrial real estate across several cities in western canada and the u.s. and has offices in five north american cities, including vancouver.
jeffrey kohn said his company got involved in the main street project as lenders a few years ago, and ended up taking it over from the other partners, “and then we realized it wasn’t exactly what we wanted to keep long-term.”
mdc then approached colliers, kohn said, and the real estate services firm brokered the deal with the city.
“they toured the building last fall, and subsequently through that, we had negotiations, and it was a very smooth transaction,” kohn said. “they were actually a pleasure to deal with, the city.”
“i think what was exciting to the city was that they’re getting a brand new property that’s never been occupied.”
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